The Bible has long been a fixture in hotel rooms across the United States. But a new and increasingly prevalent trend set by upscale boutiques is emptying bedside drawers of the holy book that has brought comfort to millions of downtrodden hotel guests.
Replacing the comfort of the handy Bible is the convenience of an iPod docking station, a flat-screen TV, a selection of underground music, a complimentary goldfish, or in some edgier hotels – an intimacy kit, according to a recent Newsweek article.
“The fact is that many persons have come to faith in Jesus Christ by reading a Bible supplied to their hotel room by the Gideons,” Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, commented in his blog this week. “Many others have turned to the Bible when in crisis. Some have even decided against suicide when they read from the Gideon’s Bible.